A 38-year-old woman police officer of Jammu and Kashmir has earned a rare honour by winning the prestigious International Female Police Peacekeeper Award-2014 at the 52nd International Association of Women Police Conference, Winnipeg, Canada.
Inspector Shakti Devi of Jammu division is currently serving the United Nations mission in Afghanistan wherein she has contributed to the improvement of the status of female police and has effectively helped the Afghan Police move towards achieving their goals of fully adopting democratic principles of policing.
"Shakti has shown high professional determination in empowering female police officers in Afghanistan despite safety and security risks. She held a critical role in leading the establishment of Women Police Councils and made it fully operational," a J&K government spokesman said.
According to UN the International Female Police Peacekeeper Award is a competitive award given to an outstanding female police peacekeeper serving in a United Nations peacekeeping mission.
Inspector Shakti was selected by a committee comprising IAWP, UN DPKO and the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institute, New York.
With 14 years of service in Jammu and Kashmir Police, the 38-year-old officer has earlier served in the UN peace mission in Timor-Leste in 2012.
"Her capacity to advocate at all levels of police hierarchy and act as effective trainer to impart knowledge and skills has tremendously helped in ensuring marked improvement in the police service delivery in Afghanistan. In particular, she convinced local police leadership to undertake safety outreach programs in schools that provide safety to girl students," said the spokesman.
The news of Shakti winning the prestigious award has created waves across the restive Jammu and Kashmir. Shakti's brother Rajesh Kumar said it was a rare honour for the country, state and the family that she was honoured for her role in UN mission.
"From her student days she wanted to join police. Her dream came trune in 1999. Today we can't express our joy and feeling in words. She has made her family, her state and her country proud," Kumar said.
"She called me just half an hour before and broke the news. I informed my sisters since our parents have passed away. Our joy knew no bounds. Shakti is an inspiration for others", he added.
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